Fur slitting apparatus



Nov. 19, 19.40. s. DEUTSCHER 2,222,256

FUR SLITTING APPARATUS Filed May 31, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5O Fi .1 42

Pi 3 52 SAMUEL. DEUTSCHER k n j INVENTOR. BY yw zmw ATTORNEY N0 19,1940. a DEUTCHER 2,222,255

FUR SLITT ING APPARATUS Filed May 31, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In G. 6 l6 5o o 0 0000060000 C 1 1' G 12 28 AMUEL DEUTSCHER- 31% I INVENTOR.

A FLL ||||||l| BY I E ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

My invention relates to fur slitting devices and has particularreference to devices for slitting or cutting furs into narrow strips forthe preparation of matched fur covering for articles of wearing apparel.

In the preparation of coats and similar articles of wearing apparel fromhigh-priced furs such as mink, etc., the individual pelts are cut intonarrow strips, usually about one-eighth of an 10 inch wide, preferablyon bias, and such strips are sewed together again, shifting every stripin relation to the other so as to produce a relatively long and narrowpiece of fur. This operation is called let out and reset in the furtrade.

The slitting operation is usually performed by hand, cutting one stripat a time, using special thin knives, preferably made of razor bladesheld in special fiat holders. Such an operation requires considerableskill, is very slow, and, there- :20 fore, considerably adds to the costof the product.

My invention has for its object to provide means for cuttingsimultaneously a large number of narrow strips from a pelt at an angle,thereby insuring accuracy of the work and uniformity of 1.5 the strips.I provide for this purpose a more or less large number of thin knivesremovably supported on an elongated holder which can be held in a handwhile applying the knives to a pelt in a desired direction.

The pelts, such as mink, are usually cut on a bias or in an angulardirection for let out and reset cutting, to the right or to the left,and, occasionally, straight across. Another object of my invention istherefore to provide means for mounting the knives on my holder in anangular position, to the right or to the left, as desired, or at rightangles to the holder, and to provide means to support and guide theholder in a corresponding angular direction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a supporting and stretchingframe for pelts so as to facilitate the slitting operation. In theslitting operation it is important to support not only the pelt beforecutting but also the individual strips 4 after the slitting operation. Iprovide for this purpose a board, preferably of metal, having aplurality of sharp pins on which the pelt is impaled. The pins are sospaced as to allow free passage of the knives between them.

In a modified form of my invention I employ an electric motor or othersuitable source of power including a manually operable pedal, for movingthe holder with the knives, a suitable switching device being providedfor controlling the motor.

My invention is more fully described in the ac- Ill) companyingspecification and drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a side view of myapparatus partly in section, showing knives at right angles to theholder;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

' Fig. 3 is a front view of a knife clamping plate;

Fig. 4 is an end view of a knife holder with the knives set at a smallangle;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 6 is a fractional detail view of the holder;

Fig. 7 is a fractional detail View of the peltsupporting plate;

Fig. 8 is an end view of the same;

Fig. 9 is a detail View of a knife holder;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view of a modified device employing anelectric motor;

Fig. 12 is an elevational view of a clamp for the fur shown on a reducedscale.

My fur slitting apparatus consists of a plurality of knives, shown indetail in Figs. 9 and 10, comprising thin blades I removably fitted inholders 2. The blades may be conveniently made of ordinary razor bladesby breaking or splitting them into parts of triangular shape andproviding with sharp points for piercing and cutting furs. The holder 2has pins 3 engaging corresponding holes in the blade, the ends of thepins entering also holes in a clamping plate 4 which is held against theholder by U-shaped clamps 5 and 6 pivoted at l and 5. The holder plate 2has a straight shank l extending at an angle to the rear edge of theplate 2. Pins !2 and 13 are provided at the end of the shank, the pinsregistering with corresponding holes M and iii in a knife-supportingplate l6 shown in detail in Fig. 6. The pin l2 passes through the shankand forms a hooked handle H on top for pulling the shank out of itsplace on the plate 56. The holes l4 and l are placed at a small distanceapart, preferably one-eighth of an inch. The holders are also madeone-eighth of an inch thick at the shanks and at the clamps, so thatthey abut each other when placed side by side on the supporting plate16. Every pair of holes M and I5 is aligned at right angles to the edgeof the plate 16, so that the knives also extend at right angles to theplate. The shanks are clamped against the plate by a bar l8 attached atthe ends by thumb screws I9. The knife holders are supported underneathby a plate 29 fastened to the under side of the holding plate 2 by thumbscrews 2|. An upper plate 22 extends from the bar [8 over the shanks ofthe knife holders, the holders themselves being further pressed againstthe plate 26 by a curved guiding plate 23 having teeth 24 at the endsengaging the end knife holders. The guiding plate 23 has elongated holesfor screws 5 25 holding it against the plate 22 so that its position canbe adjusted for pressing the knives together and against the supportingplate 26.

A piece of fur 26 to be cut is clamped at the rear edge between bars 21and 28, the bar 21 10 being supported on posts 29 mounted on a base 36and the bar 28 being hinged to the lower bar 21 at 3|. The other end ofthe bar 28 is clamped against the end of the bar 21 by a resilient clampor latch 32. A row of sharp pins 33 extend from 15 the bar 21, engagingcorresponding holes 36' in the bar 28. The fur is placed with its hairat the under side and is impaled on sharp pins 34 extending from asupporting plate 35. The latter is provided with a flange 36 at the rearattached 30 to the bar 21 by screws 31, the front end being supported onposts 38. Additional posts 39 may be provided on the base 36 for themiddle portion of the plate 35. The pins 34 extend in rows spaced at thesame distance apart as the knives,

95 so that the latter pass between the pins without touching them whileslitting the fur.

For guiding and supporting the knife holding plate I6, it is providedwith a supporting bracket 46 in the shape of an inverted U-shaped hook30 slidably engaging a rail 4I. Rollers 42 are provided in the U portionof the bracket or hook 46 rotating on pins 43 and engaging the upper andlower sides of the rail, so as to reduce friction when the plate I6 withthe knives is moved 35 on the rail. The bracket 46 has a flange 44 witha hole in the middle for a thumb screw 45 attaching the flange to theplate I6. A dowel pin 46 in the plate I6 engages a slot or hole 41, Fig.5, in the flange for holding the bracket in the correct 40 position atright angles to the plate I6.

The rail M is supported at the ends on posts 46 and 49 mounted on thebase 36. The forked upper ends of the posts have elongated holes forscrews 56, so that the height of the rail can 45 beadjusted. This isnecessary in order' to have the knives pierce the skin of the fur onlywithout cutting the hair underneath.

For slitting the fur or pelt 26 stretched on the plate 35 and held bythe pins 34, the rail 50 M with the knife holding plate I6 is placed onthe posts fixed by the screws 56 so that the knife points just penetratethe skin. The plate I6 is then moved over the rail, the knives cuttingslits in the fur. The strips thus obtained remain 55 attached to theplate 35 by the pins 34 and cannot therefore become displaced anddamaged during the cutting operation as invariably happens with multipleknives without such support for the strips.

It is often required to cut the fur into diagonal or bias strips,usually at an angle of fifteen degrees. The knives are replaced for thispurpose at an angle to the plate I6 as shown in Figs. 4, 5. Additionalholes I are provided in the plate I6 65 for the pins I3 for thispurpose, the pins I2 being placed in every fourth hole I4. The inneredges of the knife holding members 2 rest against a bar 52 held underthe plate I6 on end blocks 54 and fastened by screws 55. Elongated holesare 70 provided in the bar for the screws so that the bar can be pressedagainst the holders 2. The holders 2 are also held on top by a curvedplate 56 extending from an upper bar 51 held by the screws I9. The railM for this purpose is placed 75 on the end posts 66 and SI for the righthand position of the knives. With this arrangement, when placed at anangle of fifteen degrees, the knives will be also the same distanceapart, that is one eighth of an inch. For larger distances the knivesmay be placed in every second, third 5 hole, etc., in which case theyare held separated at the ends by a plate 62, Fig. 3, having teeth 63 ofa corresponding thickness and spacing.

The plate I6 with the knives may be moved on the rail M by an electricmotor 64, Fig. 11, which may be mounted on the rail and connected bygears 65 with a lead screw 66 engaging a nut on the hook 61. The railwith the motor can be placed in any angular position for left or righthand bias cutting or for cutting straight across as in Figs. 1 and 2.

For a very long knife holding plate I6, two rails 4I may be employed,one at each end of the plate.

For diagonal cutting the front extension 68 may be removed by looseningthe screws 69. 0

I have found that the fur can be conveniently placed on the pins 34 bypressing the fur with a board covered with thick felt. A Wooden barcovered with felt can be impaled on the pins at the outer edge of thefur to provide a stop for the knives.

The pins 34 are longer than the pins 33, so that the hair of the fur isnot clamped against the plate 35 and is therefore prevented from beingcut by the knives. The bar with the knives may be raised while the furis being stretched on the pins. The front screw 56 is removed for thispurpose and the rear screw is loosened so that the bar can be rotated onthe rear screw and supported at an elevation during stretching of thefur.

The plate 35 may be placed directly on the base 36, in which case theposts 38 and 39 may be dispensed with, as well as the posts 29 for thefur clamping bars 21 and 28.

For very long knife holding plate I6 it may be provided with additionalremovable supporting feet I6 at the ends with rollers 'II engaging thebase 36. The plate I6 is provided with two sets of holes I3 forfastening screws 74, so that the position of the feet can be changed fordifferent angles of the knives.

It is understood that my fur slitting apparatus may be further modifiedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, as set forth in theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

A fur slitting apparatus comprising an elongated member, a plurality ofknives, means to support the knives on the member in a parallel relationto each other selectively in one of two angular positions to the axis ofthe member in a horizontal plane, a base, a bar on the base, means toclamp one edge of a piece of fur against the bar, a board supported onthe base abutting the bar, a plurality of sharp needles on the boardadapted to support the main portion of the fur stretched in directionaway from the bar, a rail, means to support the rail at an elevationabove the board at an angle to the edge of the board, the needles beingso positioned as to form free passage for the knives in either of thetwo angular directions of their movement and in a transverse directionperpendicular to the bar when the board is turned at 90. 70

2. A fur slitting apparatus comprising a base, means to support a-pieceof fur on the base in a stretched position, a rail, an elongated memberslidably supported on the rail for movement in a selected angularrelationship thereto, a plurality of knives spaced in parallel relationto each other and to the rail, the knives being adapted to out the furinto parallel strips when the elongated member is moved on the rail, anda plurality of pairs of brackets on the base one pair being adapted toremovably support the rail in the air above and across the fur at anangle to the right of the edge of the base, the other pair being adaptedto support the rail at a left angle, and a third pair being adapted tosupport the rail at right angles to the edge of the base.

3. A fur slitting apparatus comprising an elongated member having a flatupper side, a plurality of knives consisting of blades and blade holderswith elongated shanks placed on the flat side of the member, pinsextending from the ends of the shanks, the member having a plurality ofholes for the pins on the shanks, a bar extending over the shanks, andmeans to tighten the bar against the member for clamping the shanks, theblades extending downward when the shanks are supported in a horizontalposition on the member.

4. A fur slitting apparatus comprising an elongated member, a pluralityof knives, means to support the knives on the member in a parallelrelation to each other selectively in one of two angular positions tothe axis of the member in a horizontal plane, a base, a bar on the base,means to clamp one edge of a piece of fur against the bar, a boardsupported on the base abutting the bar, a plurality of sharp needles onthe board adapted to: support the main portion of the fur stretched indirection away from the bar, a rail, means to support the rail at anelevation above the board at an angle to the edge of the board, theneedles being so positioned as to form a plurality of parallel rows at asmall angle to the left of the edge of the board and also formingparallel rows at a small angle to the right of the edge of the board,and also forming parallel rows at right angles to the edge of the board,the needles thereby permitting free passage for the movement of theknives in two angular directions and in a direction at right angles tothe edge of the board.

5. A fur slitting apparatus comprising an elongated member, a pluralityof knives, means to support the knives on the member in. a parallelrelation to each other selectively in one of two angular positions tothe axis of the member in a horizontal plane, a base, a bar on the base,means to clamp one edge of a piece of fur against the bar, a boardsupported on the base abutting the bar, a plurality of sharp needles onthe board adapted to support the main portion of the fur stretched indirection away from the bar, a rail, bracketson the base for supportingthe rail at an elevation above the board in a selected angular positionto the edge of the board, means to slidably support the knife-supportingmeans on the rail, the knives being adapted to cut the fur into aplurality of parallel strips when the knife-supporting means is moved onthe rail, the needles being positioned in rows extending at small anglesto the right and to the left of the edge of the board for providing freepassage for the knives.

SAMUEL DEUTSCHER.

